DEAN NORRIS| FOUNDERS CIRCLE
Thought of the week: how will start-ups combat increasing market fears when hiring?
Job security is a pressing concern for many, which has in turn made it a challenging, more conservative market to hire. In particular, start-ups will feel the impact of this.
Whether it is any more risky to join a start-up than a big tech or big brand generally speaking is a separate debate. Ultimately, this is just a matter of perceptions and lived experiences. Perceptions in these examples really do matter when hiring. After all, it's a courting process.
The question then becomes: what can businesses do to combat this, and stay ahead of the 'recruitment curve'?
A few ideas(apart from hiring me as your recruiter 😉 !):
- Branding and positioning needs to be on point. You need to really demonstrate why your product/solution will be successful, why joining this mission outweighs any perceived or realised risk.
- Regularly reviewing competitiveness against co-parts. How do we stack against company X, Y, etc. If we can't match financial incentive, what then do we offer that's TRULY unique to us? Not just the fallacy that joining your company is the 'only option that makes sense'.
- When you do hire, make it efficient and a positive experience. Not only does this, quite obviously increase the chances of making a strong impression; it creates a lasting one which is particularly important when the '23 talent pool could be more scarce when hiring individuals who are ready to take on the challenges of working for a startup and associated risk.
I think these are really quite obvious suggestions, but I still see companies failing to take these onboard time and time again. I hope we see a year of more thoughtful hiring and enhanced value creation from the recruitment industry in general. I'll be working hard to keep myself accountable for this, and I know many others will be, too!
